So, want to impress your friends by being about to count in the most widely spread planned language? Let’s start by counting to 10… I’ll even throw in some memory hints for free! And yes, I’m a software developer, so I’ll start counting at zero. 🙂

Numbers 0-10

0 – nul (sounds like null)

1 – unu (sounds like card game Uno)

2 – du (do you want to learn the second number?)

3 – tri (sounds like three)

4 – kvar (almost like four)

5 – kvin

6 – ses (almost like six)

7 – sep

8 – ok

9 – naŭ (learn this number now!)

10 – dek (highest number in a deck of cards)

Ok, that was just as easy as learning any other language, but here is where Esperanto’s logical nature really helps. For fun, I’ll teach you the ordinal numbers. Let’s compare English with Esperanto here:

Englishcardinal

Englishordinal

Esperantocardinal

Esperantoordinal

one

first

unu

unua

two

second

du

dua

three

third

tri

tria

four

fourth

kvar

kvara

five

fifth

kvin

kvina

six

sixth

ses

sesa

seven

seventh

sep

sepa

eight

eighth

ok

oka

nine

ninth

naŭ

naŭa

ten

tenth

dek

deka

Numbers 11-1.000.000

The numbers stay logical. Check out the following examples:

11 – dek unu

12 – dek du

34 – tridek kvar

93 – naŭdek tri

100 – cent

123 – cent dudek tri

678 – sescent sepdek ok

1.000 – mil

1.000.000 – miliono

Also note that as opposed to English, the thousands dividers are typically separated by a dot, whereas the decimal is a comma. For example, you might see, “Tio kostas 1.299,99 €.” [That costs €1,299.99.]

Saying years

If you want to say, “The first Universal Congress of Esperanto happened in 1905.” you would say, “La unua Universala Kongreso okazis en mil naŭcent kvin.” Literally in English that would be “thousand nine-hundred five”. Note however, that in years starting with 2000, the same order as English applies, so 2011 is “du mil dek unu”.

Further study for advanced students

Believe it or not, numbers above a billion can get tricky. When you’re ready for an advanced lesson, feel free to check out Vortoj por grandegaj nombroj.

I was born in the US, but Esperanto has led me all over the world. I started teaching myself Esperanto on a whim in 2001, not knowing how it would change my life. The timing couldn’t have been better; around that same time I discovered Wikipedia in it’s very early stages and launched the Esperanto version. When I decided to backpack through Europe, I found Esperanto speakers to host me. These connections led me to the Esperanto Youth Organization in Rotterdam, where I worked for a year, using Esperanto as my primary language. Though in recent years I’ve moved on to other endeavors like iOS development, I remain deeply engrained in the Esperanto community, and love keeping you informed of the latest news. The best thing that came from learning Esperanto has been the opportunity to connect with fellow speakers around the globe, so feel free to join in the conversation with a comment! I am now the founder and CTO of the social app Amikumu.